Box Score #12 Wayne State 3 Texas A&M-Commerce 1

            Senior Erin Gross paced a balanced hitting attack with 13 kills to lead #12 Wayne State College in a 25-13, 25-20, 18-25 and 25-23 non-conference volleyball win over Texas A&M-Commerce Friday afternoon at the 2017 Steel and Silver Classic in Pueblo, Colorado.  WSC is now 5-1 with the Lions falling to 2-3.
            WSC rolled in the first set to a 25-13 win, hitting .393 with 12 kills and just one attack error while forcing Texas A&M Commerce to nine attack errors.  Freshman Maddie Duffy notched back-to-back service aces to close out the first set for the Wildcats.
            The Wildcats built a 13-1 lead in the second set and went on to post a 25-20 set win.  Maria Wortmann had four kills in just seven attempts while Katie Stephens and Haley Kauth posted five digs apiece.
            Texas A&M-Commerce gained momentum in the third set, forcing eight WSC attack errors to go with 14 kills, as the Lions got back into the match with a 25-18 set win.
            The fourth set was a back and forth battle with the two teams trading 11 ties and seven lead changes.  With the score tied at 20-20, the 'Cats used a kill from Gross, a block by Megan Gebhardt and Jaci Brahmer and an attack error to take a 23-20 lead.  WSC got another attack error and closed out the match with a Brahmer kill to finish with the 25-23 set win.
            Wayne State hit .165 for the match compared to .122 for Texas A&M-Commerce.  The Lions held a 52-44 edge in kills and 64-57 in digs, but WSC had 13 blocks to 11 for TAMC while the 'Cats had one more service ace (5-4).
            Gross led WSC in hitting with 13 kills to go with six blocks.  Katie Stephens contributed nine kills and a team-high 17 digs in the win while Maria Wortmann produced eight kills and seven blocks.
            Junior setter Megan Gebhardt had 37 set assists while sophomore libero Haley Kauth finished with 15 digs.  Freshman Maddie Duffy had three of Wayne State's five service aces.
            Wayne State plays a pair of Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference teams Saturday in Colorado Springs, Colorado, battling UC-Colorado Springs at 11 a.m. and #22 Colorado Mines in a 5:30 p.m. contest to conclude play in the 2017 Steel and Silver Volleyball Classic.